A cancellation action may be filed by any third party at any time within five (5) years from the date of registration if it can be evidenced that the mark does not meet the criteria for protection.
After five years of registration, the registered mark will become incontestable and no cancellation action is available. However, there is no time limit for a cancellation brought on the ground that the trademark owner registered the mark in bad faith.
An invalidation action may be initiated by any interested party if it can be evidenced that i) the validity of the trademark registration is expired ; or ii) the registered mark is not in use within five (5) consecutive years calculated backward in time from the date on which a request for invalidation on the basis of non-use is made to the TM Office by any third party; or iii) the trademark owner no longer exists or terminates its business operation without legitimate successor.
For filing a cancellation/invalidation against a trademark registration, the following documents are required :
(i) A Power of Attorney, which is signed by the Applicant. No notarization and/or legalization is required ;
(ii) Documentary evidence in support of the cancellation/invalidation (if any).
